When it comes to reader engagement, crafting an attention-grabbing headline is not the only thing you should consider. You might even write a great introductory paragraph that will make your readers click the little “read more” link on your blog, but the hard part is drawing their eyes down the page, and keeping them hooked until the final message.

Great content is essential, but it only goes so far. What your readers are looking for is a summary of the main points, in an easy-to-find-and-follow format. Just like reading a magazine, readers want to be able to skim your content and still pick up the essential points.

For this purpose, we have HTML heading tags such as H1, H2, H3, H4, and so on and so fourth. While H1 and/or H2 will be used for your catchy post titles (check out the guide on SEO-friendly headlines), H3 and H4 should be used throughout your post to draw the reader down the page and summarize portions of your content. Either tag has a slightly different purpose, and we’ll discuss how to use them in your posts.
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Another quiet Sunday in the blogosphere, as usual. This morning I thought about writing another link share post or a WordPress theme recommendation, but later I’ve decided to break the pattern (since it’s all so quiet) and make Sundays the host of a blog SEO tips series. In this first post I’m going to talk about the importance of using SEO friendly titles (H1, H2, H3) and the right way to do so.

Usual Coding Patterns in WordPress Themes

If you’re even a bit familiar with the WordPress themes, by now you’ve probably took a look at your theme’s files. Blog pages are rendered through an association of a few PHP files with standard names (index.php, archive.php, single.php) with different templates of the theme, based on the content type.

The index.php file usually stands for your home page, also being capable of replacing any other template that hasn’t been already defined. So, if you don’t have a template for search results (search.php), the index file will take over and render your search results page.

Each of these templates includes smaller pieces of code to build up the final result. The most used are header.php, sidebar.php and footer.php.

For now, we’ll limit our attention to the following files in your theme’s folder:

• header.php
• index.php
• single.php
• page.php (not every theme has it)
• archive.php, search.php (not every theme has them)

Optimizing the Header File

Having your primary keyword present at the top of you page it’s very important.
Considering the fact that most themes come with text based logos instead of graphics, we’ll be looking for the <h1> tag in the header.php file.
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